1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to farm and field equipment. More particularly the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for transportable tractor-driven equipment. Such equipment includes disk and cycle-bar mowers, planters, and sprayer booms that, in use, are necessarily of greater width than the tractor or vehicle carrying them.
2. Background Art
In order to make efficient use of time and horsepower when in use, tractor-driven disk and cycle-bar mowers are significantly wider than the tractor (or other vehicle) on which they are mounted. Modem mowers extend to both sides of the tractor—often being mounted on the front of the tractor so the material being mowed is not run over by the wheels of the tractor before being cut. Transporting such a unit on public roads is not safe, and is illegal in most areas. In present-day practice, this necessitates detaching the mower from the tractor and loading it on a truck or trailer for transport on public roads, thereby reducing some of the efficiency gained by having a wide machine.
There is, therefore, a need for a method and apparatus for making wide, tractor-driven machinery such as mowers, sprayer booms, and planters transportable while still mounted to the tractor.